The theme of this year’s Open Access Week is “Open for Collaboration” – a reminder to authors, funders, publishers and the whole of the research community how important collaboration is to advancing the open access movement. New partnerships and innovative ventures between all stakeholders – from societies to publishers – encourage the reach and growth of quality scholarly research.

The production of open access content begins with you, the researcher. As the open access publishing landscape continues to evolve, valuable resources for helping you learn about the process have never been more important. Cue Think. Check. Submit., a new cross-industry initiative designed to support researchers on the road to publication.

What?

The mission of Think. Check. Submit. is to help researchers identify high-quality journals which would be appropriate for submitting their research. Think. Check. Submit. is an easy-to-use online checklist built on indicators that allow you to thoroughly investigate individual journals, ensuring that whichever publication you choose is the right fit for you and your work. The campaign is led by representatives from various organizations, including ALPSP, DOAJ, ISSN and SPARC.

Who?

Picture this: You’ve finished your first research article and you’d like to get it published. Which journal should you pick? Think. Check. Submit. aims to eliminate the stress of this all too familiar scenario. Early-career researchers will benefit greatly from this new service, as will English Second Language-researchers and those who may not have access to or be aware of the extent of existing scholarly content. Ultimately, though, Think. Check. Submit. is meant to help all researchers searching for a trusted place to publish their work.

Why?

As the output of scholarly content grows, so does the risk of deception and malpractice. Think. Check. Submit. seeks to combat both issues. According to The STM Report, the number of academic journals grows by 3.5% each year – nearly 1,000 journals were launched in 2014 alone and new ones are launched daily. Since March 2014, DOAJ has processed 6,000 applications, of which 2,700 have been rejected, 1,800 are in process, and 1,500 have been accepted. That makes choosing the best journal for your work a difficult task, especially for those less experienced with the process. Now, more than ever, it is essential that you have the right tools and services to help you make informed decisions.

Beyond Think. Check. Submit., authors can turn to freely available resources such as the new Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources (ROAD) and Quality Open Access Market (QOAM). Developed through partnerships between scholarly organizations and the International ISSN Centre, ROAD offers descriptions of over 12,000 open access journals, conference proceedings, academic repositories and more. Like Think. Check. Submit., QOAM, a service based on academic crowd sourcing, also helps authors in the market for the ideal journal for their work.